It’s difficult to imagine Ryan Helsley as anything other than a closer. That’s the role that earned Helsley two All-Star appearances and an NL Reliever of the Year trophy with the St. Louis Cardinals, and it’s the role Helsley will reportedly continue in with his new team, the Baltimore Orioles.
Interestingly, a report published on Saturday by The Athletic’s Cardinals insider Katie Woo indicated that 15 teams expressed interested in Helsley this offseason, including the Detroit Tigers, who had a different role in mind for Helsley.
“Roughly 15 teams checked in on Helsley with various levels of interest, including the Detroit Tigers, who viewed the right-hander as a potential starting pitcher,” Woo wrote (subscription required).
Woo’s reporting confirms earlier reports that Detroit was thinking about adding Helsley as a starting pitcher, which has fans across MLB wondering whether or not such a role change would have worked for Helsley, who is coming off a weird year in which he was traded to the New York Mets and performed horribly for them.
Helsley now has a huge opportunity to write the wrongs of his 2025 second half and return to being a shutdown closer for a Baltimore teams that needs him to regain All-Star form.
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History suggests that Helsley will turn things around, and that 2025 was merely an outlier season for the hurler. Before 2025, Helsley’s numbers were quite impressive: a 2.63 ERA, a 1.10 WHIP and 314 strikeouts in his career.
